Lmsw

June 26th, 2013, 01:33 AM

So I am thinking about the national guard. I just finished my mssw and am about to obtain my lmsw to start occurring clinical hours. Two questions; first, does AMEDD utilize lmsw's? (Everything h I read says unrestricted License which would be a lcsw). Second any social workers out there who have went through AMEDD and want to share your experience?

I was recently approved by the AMEDD board to commission here in Arizona. From my understanding, you must have an unrestricted clinical license. I would speak to your recruiter about it and possibly start the process early, as it took me 10 months to complete the paperwork and submit the required documents, and hear a response from the AMEDD Board, which I believe meets every month. Good luck, and don't wait to get those clinical hours!

Comment

Wow, 10 months. I should be accruing clinical
Hours starting in August (I work for the department of Veterans Affairs and they are very good about coordinating those). How long will your basic training be, I seem to read and hear different timelines. Do you know any other social workers who have been in AMEDD and their experience?

Comment

My understanding about training is that I will participate in the "short course" of BOLC at Fort Sam. This consists of an approximately 83hr self-completed online/computer education, and once that is complete, you are eligible to attend the 27-day training at Fort Sam, which is primarily FTX. I'm asking about attending the long course, which is about 7 weeks at the core, with a few weeks of other required trainings, as well- I'll have to see if there is funding for it. In the long course, you complete all of the educational pieces while on post- death by PowerPoint, I'm sure- but I think it would be good experience to live the life full time for a couple months to get a better feel for it, rather than trying to learn it at home or while attending monthly drill. I'll let you know how it goes.

I have still yet to meet or speak with any other social workers or those that have AMEDD experience, except for the CPT (he's an MD) of the Medical Support Company, and that was through brief emails. I'm still in the same boat as you with that.

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I wouldn't be eligible for deployment, or even the annual 2-week training, until BOLC is complete. Deployments are just a part of the gig- be prepared for it. I've heard that Social Workers can be deployed with their unit, as well as an individual to help in a critical shortage area.